SALON

Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 9:18 PM UTC

Why do rape laws still protect spouses?

Washington state mulls a long-awaited change to how it defines sexual assault

By

Topics: Rape, Sexual abuse, LGBT, washington state, Marriage equality, domestic violence,

Why do rape laws still protect spouses? (Credit: Shutterstock/Salon)

Planning on raping your spouse in Washington state? The consequences are about to get a lot tougher. Maybe. On Tuesday, lawmakers in the Evergreen State began considering House Bill 1108, which would remove the spousal exemption for third-degree rape and for “indecent liberties.”

Washington already has partner rape provisions for first- and second-degree sexual assault – rape that includes violence, overt threat of violence, or is perpetrated on someone physically or mentally incapacitated. Yet the state’s current legal system means that prosecutors have to pursue “lesser misdemeanor assault charges” in cases that would otherwise qualify as third-degree if the victim and assailant weren’t married. Washington law defines third-degree rape as occurring when “that person engages in sexual intercourse, not married to the perpetrator … where the victim did not consent … to sexual intercourse and such lack of consent was clearly expressed by the victim’s words or conduct.” There you go. You can say no, clearly and explicitly, but if you’re married and your assailant didn’t slap you around, it’s not rape.

A lot has changed in this country since South Dakota became the first state to remove the rape exception in 1975. Prior to that, a woman had almost no legal recourse if her husband sexually assaulted her. Since then, every state has amended the spousal exception laws – but some, like Washington, still carry provisions that can make it lesser crime. It’s a serious and long-standing justice problem in the state – a Seattle Times story tells the story of Sarah, a woman whose husband repeatedly raped her over a decade of marriage, and who said law enforcement “lost interest when she told them her assailant was her then-estranged husband.” The story ran in 1997.

The time may be especially ripe for a change in the law because Washington has been examining the issue of marriage more closely of late — and casting off antiquated notions of what defines it. In December, same-sex unions became legal in the state. Updating the law on spousal rape doesn’t just promise justice to women, and women in traditional hetero unions to boot – it offers protection to gay and lesbian couples as well. And when you consider that there are places in America where the phrase “abuse” is still not legally applicable to same-sex couples, that’s a welcome and much needed potential modernization.

Hard statistics are difficult to come by, but it’s estimated that a quarter of women and nearly 8 percent of men are raped or physically assaulted by a partner at some time — and that includes gays and lesbians. The Santa Fe Rape Crisis and Trauma Treatment Center estimates “one out of three lesbians has been sexually assaulted by another woman.” Yet antiquated partner rape language often still assumes rape is something that happens “when the wife is unable to consent.”

With more Washington state residents now enjoying the right to marry, it’s only sane and right that the moment is likewise at hand for all married couples to have protection from sexual abuse. On Tuesday, the new bill’s sponsor Rep. Roger Goodman stated, “There is no such thing as legitimate rape. We have to get rid of this marital rape exception and catch up with the rest of the country.” It’s a sentiment Sen. Pat Thibaudeau expressed 15 years ago, when she spoke of the need for change. Because while our definition of marriage is thankfully evolving, as Thibaudeau put it back then, “Rape is rape is rape.”

Mary Elizabeth Williams

Mary Elizabeth Williams is a staff writer for Salon and the author of "Gimme Shelter: My Three Years Searching for the American Dream." Follow her on Twitter: @embeedub. More Mary Elizabeth Williams.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 8 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
Oklahoma senator: Tornado aid “totally different” from Sandy aid
3034 points3035 points | 1933 comments
vote
Anyone Regret Slashing National Weather Service Budget Now?: With GOP-backed cuts to forecasting agency, experts warn future storms will go undetected and more lives lost
952 points953 points | 486 comments
vote
Oklahoma senator wants to offset tornado aid with other cuts
147 points148 points | 48 comments
vote
Horrifying new trend: Posting rapes to Facebook " In Chicago this weekend, prosecutors announced three teenaged boys will tried as adults for aggravated criminal sexual assault after allegedly raping a 12-year-old girl — and posting a video of the attack on Facebook."
29 points30 points | 14 comments
vote
New campaign compares gun control to anti-LGBT discrimination
25 points26 points | 10 comments

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations